Parappanangady: As the nation celebrates NCC Day, the residents of Parappanangadi fondly recall a small but remarkable landmark: a road carved out in 1976 by a group of young cadets led by a teacher, fondly called `John Mash'

BEM HSS was among the first schools in the coastal region to start an NCC unit. It was K V John from Kottayam, a teacher at the school in 1976–77, who launched the unit. In the same year, he led the construction of a road linking the Thanoor route with the coastal belt.

The road took shape in just a few days, thanks to the hard work of about 120 high school students. M P Muhammadali Rasheed of Chiramangalam, who was one of those students and later retired from the education department, recalls how the group cleared the vegetation and created a path that went on to benefit many households.

Today, John Master and his family live in New York. When he visited home a year ago, he stopped by the road during a trip from Kannur, taking note of how much it had changed. A video of that emotional visit went viral on social media, sparking a desire among his former students to honour him. The reception they organised for him at the high school, beside the very road they built, turned into a big celebration.

Decades later, people still cherish the name of the road, and a large signboard stands proudly in memory of the NCC’s contribution.